Second suspect arrested in Boulder hate-crime attack

A second man -- believed to be the more verbal assailant -- has been arrested in a suspected hate crime against two men of Nigerian descent over the weekend.

Zachrey David Harris, 21, surrendered late Wednesday at the Adams County Jail after Boulder police issued a warrant for his arrest earlier in the day. He faces misdemeanor charges of harassment and bias-motivated crime.

Harris and another man were with Joseph Owen Coy, 22, of Lafayette, who was arrested Saturday on suspicion of punching University of Colorado student Olubiyi Ogundipe in the face after calling him and another man from Nigeria "monkeys" and other racial slurs, police reported.

Witnesses said Harris appeared to be the main person using racist terms, according to an arrest affidavit. He's suspected of telling Ogundipe and his friend Ahmad Abdulkareem to "go back to your country," according to the affidavit.

A witness said he also heard Harris say, "I bought your parents and I can buy you, too," before throwing money at the men, the affidavit said.

Ogundipe and Abdulkareem told police that they were walking outside the Hookah House, 1325 Broadway, about 2:30 a.m. Saturday when three men -- "one little, one big and one with tattoos" -- confronted them and started making racial comments, according to the affidavit.

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Abdulkareem told investigators that they tried to walk away, but the men followed, and Coy and Harris pushed him and continued calling them names. When they tried to leave again, Coy punched Ogundipe in the head, causing him to fall to the ground, witnesses told police.

Coy and Harris, however, told investigators different stories.

Coy said he had been at the Goose bar, 1301 Broadway, about 9:30 p.m. Friday with Harris and another friend, Justin Carlson, according to the affidavit. Outside the bar, Coy told investigators, a black man began cursing at him and the two groups exchanged words.

Coy told investigators that one of the black men said, "What, Whitey? What's your problem, you wanna do this right here?" That made Harris "very upset," according to Coy, prompting him to get in the faces of the black men.

One of them put Coy in a choke hold, he told police, and when Coy dropped to the ground, he said, he was kicked. Coy said he was put in a second choke hold before police showed up and arrested him, the affidavit said.

When police contacted Harris by phone Saturday evening, he said Coy had gotten into an "altercation" the previous night and that one of the men he was fighting punched Coy in the back of the head. Officers asked Harris if he had used racial slurs against the men, and he said, "I might have; I was pretty drunk," according to the affidavit.

"He denied being a racist and said that he had lived in Tennessee in the past," the affidavit said.

Harris denied making gestures or acting like a monkey, as witnesses reported, but he conceded that "he might have done so," according to the affidavit. He also said he probably did shove one of the black men, but he didn't recall.

A CU police officer said she saw Coy punch Ogundipe. Investigators said Coy didn't have any visible injuries and that Ogundipe's face was "swollen and bruised," according to the affidavit.

Harris was released Thursday from the Adams County Jail after posting $10,000 bond.

Police Sgt. Tom Trujillo said the evidence points to Coy and Harris as the only aggressors.

"We look at the totality of the investigation," Trujillo said.

The third person who was with Coy and Harris hasn't been arrested because there is "no evidence to indicate that he participated in the name-calling or assault," according to Trujillo.

Coy was charged Wednesday with a felony count of bias-motivated crime, as well as third-degree assault and obstructing a peace officer. He was released from the Boulder County Jail on Monday after posting a $10,000 bond.

He's next due in a Boulder County courtroom Oct. 14 for a status conference.

"As we've said before, this type of crime will not be tolerated in our community," Beckner said.

CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano wrote in a guest column submitted Thursday that acts of racism like the one over the weekend "tear at the fabric of our campus and Boulder community."

"Olubiyi (Ogundipe) has told CU authorities and the media that he experienced racism both on and off campus long before he encountered three men who acted on their racist impulses," DiStefano said. "This is an outrage."

DiStefano called for the CU campus, city of Boulder and surrounding communities to "rededicate themselves to the struggle against racism and all other forms of bigotry."

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